ABSTRACT
In order to change, an organization requires an appraisal of its internal and external environment. Analysing threats and opportunities, strengths and weaknesses, resources and opportunities is the cornerstone of strategic management. In order to change, however, there needs to be a well-defined strategic intent—that is the new direction, the new purpose, of the organization. This will constitute the input of the change process, which will in turn lead to a modification of that strategic process in an interactive fashion. In undertaking a planned process of change, certain assumptions and values are either explicit, or more usually implicit, in the process. The remainder of this chapter is a distillation of ideas predominantly from the work of Richard Beckhard, which attempts to capture those essential assumptions and to offer some practical and personal guidelines.
